I am going to be taking a little vacation from this blog so I’ll leave you with a big selection of seasonal cheer to keep you busy until I return after Christmas. The record label Suburban Sprawl has released a free annual compilation of Christmas music since 2002. All six albums are available to give your holiday season a decidedly indie feel.

How can you adequately describe 157 tracks by several dozen artists on six albums? The tracks include Christmas standards but most are original songs. The music, as expected from such a large compilation series, is uneven but there are some yuletide gems to be found. Let’s see if I can pick out my favorites…

Christmas 2007: Zach Curd start with a respectful and cleverly harmonic “Deck The Halls” and ends the volume with Annie Moss on “Miss Christmas”. Adam Kempa’s “Santa Claus Blew Right Through Town” is a rollicking surf rock version of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” while Cale Parks’ “Drummer Boy” is reggae dub. There are lots of other good tracks by Annette Walowicz, Jacuzzi 2.0, The Paincakes, and others.

Christmas 2006: More great Zach Curd. In my opinion, he is the most consistently impressive of the many artists on these volumes. The Lickity Split’s “You Set My Christmas Tree on Fire” is totally over the top. The Next Door Neighbors teaches us “How to Make Eggnog” in a pleasantly folksy manner. But my favorite is an almost cerebral “Dear Bethlehem” by Of Young and Old. Other good choices include tracks by The Yachts, Charlie Slick, The Paincakes, and Love Axe.

Christmas 2005: Nice Christmas trip-hop by Em News. Keith Tenley’s “Gold Watch For Kringle’ is the most depressing song about Santa since Weird Al’s “The Night Santa Went Crazy”. The Canadian Dollars gives us a little tongue-in-the-cheek social relevancy on “Outsourcin’ Christmas”. If you are into the downright weird, try The Whoa Boats or The Paincakes.

Christmas 2004: The Recital’s “And That Boy Can Drum” is a good rock version of “Little Drummer Boy”. There’s more great surf rock by Adam Kempa on “Jingle Bell Surf”. Dave Lawson’s funereal cover of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” actually works for some odd reason. And oh yeah, some funny Christmas punk rock from the Paincakes.

Christmas 2003: The clear favorite here is the outrageous “I Want an Hippopotamus For Christmas” by The Paincakes.

Christmas 2002: The first album is the shortest with 17 tracks and also has the most covers. Thunderbirds Are Now does a wild cover of Run DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis”. Scott Allen and Caleb Deadly performs a pretty version of “Christmas Time in Here”. Did I mention that I just love The Paincakes?

All six albums are available in 128kbps MP3 from the link below. Make sure you browse the site for many of Suburban Sprawl’s artists and their CDs. Support the artists. Buy their CDs.

Happy Holidays!

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